Justice Sarah Aryee, High Court of the Gambia
The High Court of The Gambia has nullified an eviction order issued by the Chief of Kombo South District, ruling that the Chief had overstepped the legal bounds of his authority in an ongoing land dispute.
In a decision delivered by Justice Sarah Aryee, the Court found that the Chief acted outside the jurisdiction of the District Tribunal when he unilaterally ordered the eviction of Amadou Wurry Barry, his family, and their tenants from a contested property.
The case, which pitted Mr. Barry and Jainaba Jallow against Yankuba Jammeh and the Attorney General, centered on competing claims of land ownership. Mr. Barry sought the High Court’s intervention to overturn the Chief’s directive and to reopen his family’s home and business premises, which had been sealed following the eviction.
Court documents show that Mr. Barry was first summoned by Mr. Jammeh to the Kombo South District Tribunal in January 2022, after Mr. Jammeh asserted ownership of the land where Mr. Barry’s family had resided since 2014. In March 2024, Mr. Jammeh accused Mr. Barry of developing the property by making bricks and installing a water tap. Mr. Barry denied the allegations, claiming that no such activities were taking place on his premises and that the construction in question was actually being carried out by a neighbor unconnected to the dispute.
Despite the case remaining unresolved, with several witnesses yet to testify, the Chief issued an eviction order that was enforced without prior notice. The order resulted in Mr. Barry, his family, and his tenants being forcibly removed from the property, their homes and businesses shuttered. The Chief’s letter to the Sheriff authorizing the eviction was dated February 6, 2024, though the applicants argued the document was backdated.
In response, the defense claimed the eviction was legally grounded, citing a prior injunction that directed both parties to refrain from altering the status of the land until a final ruling. The Attorney General’s office acknowledged that the dispute was still under consideration at the Gunjur District Tribunal and that a final determination of ownership had yet to be made.
Justice Aryee found that the Chief’s eviction letter did not meet the legal requirements set out under the District Tribunals Act, which mandates that decisions must be made by a panel with the participation of the tribunal’s president or vice president and at least two other members. The eviction letter, she noted, was signed solely by the Chief and did not constitute a valid tribunal decision.
“The Chief cannot act unilaterally to evict a person while the matter is still pending,” Justice Aryee wrote in her ruling, emphasizing the importance of the constitutional right to a fair hearing.
The High Court consequently quashed the eviction order and directed the Sheriff to immediately reopen the affected premises. All similar eviction letters issued by the Chief in this case were also set aside.
The ruling underscores the limits of district authority in land disputes and reaffirms the procedural safeguards designed to protect property rights in The Gambia’s judicial system.